On 15 June 2020, President of The Republic of Serbia (“Serbia”) Aleksandar Vučić, accompanied by Minister of Education, Science and Technological Development of Serbia Mladen Šarčević, Minister without Portfolio of Serbia in charge of Innovations and Technological Development Nenad Popović, Chinese Ambassador to Serbia Chen Bo, and Dean of Faculty of Teacher Training at University of Belgrade Dr. Danimir Mandić, visited the Center for Robotics and Artificial Intelligence in Education, Belgrade (“CRAIE”). Directly under the Ministry of Education, CRAIE was jointly established by Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of Serbia, Faculty of Teacher Education, University of Belgrade and NetDragon. The group had firsthand experience of NetDragon’s smart education products during the visit, while Liu Dejian, Founder and Chairman of NetDragon, had a “remote conversation” with President Vučić to express NetDragon’s commitment to development of smart education in Serbia.
NetDragon will also provide diversified functionalities, such as education content production, education technology development, education services as well as teacher training, in order to promote the information exchange and knowledge sharing in Serbia, and to enhance educators and learners’ user experience, so as to elevate Serbia’s nation-wide education level with smart education.
President Vučić and Liu Dejian, Founder and Chairman of NetDragon had a “remote conversation”
To enhance President Vučić’s understanding about China’s education technology as well as NetDragon’s education business and innovation concepts, five showrooms of different themes,
including smart classroom, innovative education and education management, were introduced in this tour. “Robotics and innovative technologies are the way to the future, and that is the most important thing for our country. Today we can see that this is possible in Serbia as well. We are grateful to our Chinese friends and NetDragon. China is the world’s leading country in artificial intelligence and robotics, and I am happy we could learn a lot.” said President Vučić after the tour.
Liu Dejian commented, “It is such an honor that President Vučić visited the Center. Tens of thousands of Serbian K-12 students are using NetDragon’s learning platform. We plan to include more teachers and students in the circle as the Center gradually establishes itself in Serbia.”
President Vučić communicates with AI Robot in Serbian
With AR and face recognition technologies, NetDragon created an AR interactive large screen for Knez Mihailova Street, the landmark of Serbia. In front of the screen, guests can instantly immerse in the historic street. In addition, products such as 101 Virtual Lab that simulates actual experiments, 101 Smart Classroom that provides massive resources, and the AI Robot that uses Serbian to communicate with guests were also impressive. The Center is expected to officially open in the fall of 2020, to demonstrate the application of high-quality education technology in Serbia, and provide a new smart learning environment and experience for all.
Serbia and NetDragon have been working closely in recent years. “Localization” has always been NetDragon’s core strategy in developing education business in Serbia, which was showcased in the AR interactive screen, designed based on Serbia’s landmark pedestrian, and the establishments of local education institutions. NetDragon has also customized various education solutions by integrating Serbia’s local teaching characteristics. With the advent of COVID-19 in 2020, schools in Serbia have been suspended. NetDragon’s assistance enabled teachers and students in Serbia to continue learning as it introduced a Serbian version of Edmodo, a world leading online learning platform, in a short period of time and provided free services to Serbian teachers and students. Edmodo’s friendly user interface and system have significantly improved the remote learning experience. Edmodo has also earned recognition and recommendation from the Ministry of Education of Serbia, and is expected to gradually rollout to more regions across the country.
At the intersection that connects Europe, Near East, and Middle East, Serbia is essential for the cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries (China-CEEC or 17+1), and therefore plays an important part in NetDragon’s journey of exporting its “Chinese solution” of digital education to the world. In future, NetDragon will continue to drive partnerships in digital education with “professional tools” and “rich contents” backed by its advanced technologies and global resources across Central and Eastern Europe countries starting from Serbia.
About NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited
NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited (HKSE: 0777) is a global leader in building internet communities with a long track record of developing and scaling multiple internet and mobile platforms that impact hundreds of millions of users. These include China’s number one online gaming portal, 17173.com, and China’s most influential smartphone app store platform, 91 Wireless, which was sold to Baidu for US$1.9 billion in 2013 as the largest Internet M&A transaction in China.
Established in 1999, NetDragon is one of the most reputable and well-known online game developers in China with a history of successful game titles including Eudemons Online, Heroes Evolved and Conquer Online. In recent years, NetDragon has also started to scale its online education business on the back of management’s vision to create the largest global online learning community, and to bring the “classroom of the future” to every school around the world. For more information, please visit www.netdragon.com.
